Saving Seafood

U.S. bans most Pacific sardine fishing after population crash

April 12, 2016 — Federal fishery managers have banned nearly all sardine fishing off the U.S. West Coast for the second straight year in a move hailed by conservation groups as key to protecting decimated California sea lion herds.

Pacific sardine populations have plunged by 90 percent since 2007, prompting the Pacific Fishery Management Council to vote Sunday to extend its prohibition on virtually all fishing of the small oily fish within 200 miles of the California, Oregon and Washington coasts.

The sardine collapse has rippled up the food chain and has been linked to deaths of sea lions and brown pelicans across the U.S. West Coast. Sea lion pups, emaciated and starving, have washed up on California beaches.

“Their mothers can’t find enough food, and have to search further and further for longer and longer periods of time,” said Ben Enticknap of Portland-based environmental advocacy group Oceana.

See the full story at Reuters

Head of NOAA, Kathryn Sullivan visits Pacific Council

The following was released by NOAA:

April 11, 2016 — VANCOUVER, WA. — Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), visited the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in Vancouver, Washington on Saturday, April 9, 2016  and addressed the Council, which is responsible for managing ocean fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California. Dr. Sullivan is a distinguished scientist, astronaut, and explorer.

Dr. Sullivan spoke on the 40th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or MSA, which forms the basis for marine fisheries management in the United States. “There’s no way to say the MSA has been anything other than a success in terms of net consequences for the resources. It’s not always an easy journey, but the MSA has put the U.S. at the forefront of sustainable and effective fisheries management.”

Dr. Sullivan had many positive things to say about the Pacific Council, which is one of eight regional fishery management councils around the country. “This Council in particular has exemplified the strong and productive role the Councils have played. The ethos that this Council brings, to what is admittedly still a difficult challenge, is very noteworthy. It’s a very constructive culture. Many times on this trip, members of the community and Council have gone out of their way to say good things about the NOAA team; to really acknowledge that there are human beings on the on the sides of the table here. My sense is that this Council does its work in a very constructive and effective fashion.”

Dr. Sullivan was finishing a 1,000-mile road trip along the West Coast. Along her way, Dr. Sullivan met with fishermen and fishing family members to talk about the groundfish trawl catch share program, electronic monitoring of fish catches, fishing observer costs, the effects of climate change, and the need to develop and maintain trust between fishing communities and fishery managers.

She also recognized the Council’s outgoing Executive Director, Dr. Don McIsaac, and presented him with a plaque honoring his career. “Don’s experience, Don’s personal character and manner gave him the tools and insights needed to guide the Council through a challenging time,” she said. “With his hand on the helm, overfished groundfish stocks were cut in half, the Council became a leader in electronic monitoring and ecosystem-based management, and Don was a key organizer of a national fisheries conference that helped chart a course for fisheries management in the future. The next Executive Director is clearly going to have big shoes to fill.”

Council Chair Dorothy Lowman said “Dr. Sullivan has both a breadth of knowledge and a passion for ocean resources and communities that depend on those resources. We are very fortunate to have her leadership at NOAA exploring how best to focus the agency’s resources to provide services to the public.”

The Pacific Council is one of eight regional councils established in 1976 by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and recommends Federal fisheries management actions off Washington, Oregon, and California.

ALASKA: Gulf fishermen wary of Congressional intrusion into council process

April 7, 2016 — Gulf of Alaska fishermen suspect that Washington, D.C., politics might come into play for fisheries regulations they want left to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

A letter circulated by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council and signed by 250 Gulf of Alaska fishermen and residents was sent to each of Alaska’s three congressional delegation members.

The letter asks that the Alaska’s representatives in the nation’s capital oppose any legislation intended to press Gulf of Alaska fisheries regulations.

“Specifically, we request our Alaska delegation to support development of a Gulf of Alaska Trawl Bycatch Management Program (aka catch share) in the Council process so all stakeholders may contribute to a transparent process,” the letter asks.

“Please do not support any attempt to circumvent the council process through legislation in Washington, D.C., as that would effectively preclude Alaskan coastal communities and stakeholders from having a direct voice in the process.”

During ComFish, an annual Kodiak commercial fisheries booster event, Stephen Taufen of Groundswell Fisheries Movement acknowledged writing the letter and said that the Congresswoman in question is Rep. Jaime Hererra Beutler, R-Wash.

Beutler, a representative of southwest Washington, sits on the House Appropriations Committee. Much of the Gulf trawl industry is based in Seattle.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Am. Samoa Cannery Opposes Reducing Tuna Data Collection

April 7, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International, operator of Samoa Tuna Processors cannery in American Samoa, has called on the federal government for more “rigorous data” collection of imported frozen tuna loins, which are from fish typically caught in distant waters and off loaded into foreign ports.

The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s call was in response to the US National Marine Fishery Service seeking public comments on proposed rule-making dealing with a number of issues on trade monitoring procedures for fishery products, and permit requirements for importers and exporters. The comment period has already closed.

Among the proposed changes in the rule-making are reduced data sets pertaining to importation of frozen cooked tuna loins used in cannery operations and tuna products in airtight containers (or tuna cans) manufactured in American Samoa and imported into the United States or Puerto Rico.

According to NMFS, the reduced data set is, among other things, intended to prevent duplicative reporting for the companies that import the tuna products and that already submit required information to the Tuna Tracking and Verification Program (TTVP) via monthly reports.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

Feds make West Coast ban on new forage fisheries official

April 5, 2016 — SEATTLE — Federal officials finalized rules Monday for a West Coast ban on catching forage fish, the small fish that larger species, seabirds and marine mammals depend on for food.

The ban on new commercial fisheries will protect little schooling fish that play a critical role in the marine food web but that are not actively fished or managed, the National Marine Fisheries Service said. It marks the first action under a new approach to fisheries management that considers how one species affects others in the ecosystem.

The ban does not affect existing fisheries for forage fish, such as sardines and anchovies. It covers species including Pacific sand lance, silversides and certain varieties of herring, smelt and squid. The restrictions apply to federal waters from 3 to 200 miles off Washington, Oregon and California, and do not affect fishing authorized by tribes.

Fishermen generally do not target forage fish in federal waters, and no West Coast fishing boats are known to be considering efforts do so.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Oregonian

Mid-Atlantic Eyed for Marine Reserve, Monument

March 29, 2016 — WASHINGTON — With less than one year left in office, President Barack Obama is moving forward with plans to restrict fishing in two areas off the Atlantic Coast.

In February, the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fishery Council voted to name an off-shore area stretching from North Carolina to New York State the Frank J. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area.

Spanning 35,000 square miles, approximately the size of South Carolina, the area contains some 15 undersea canyons. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to approve the name and the designation of the area as a marine reserve.

Once the reserve is officially established, bottom trawling within its boundaries will be banned as part of an effort to protect slow-growing, deep-water corals, which provide homes for numerous species.

Read the full story at The Heartland Institute

Pacific Fishery Management Council chooses options for 2016 salmon season

(March 24, 2016) — The Pacific Fishery Management Council yesterday adopted three public review alternatives for the 2016 salmon season off the West Coast of the U.S.

The council will select a final alternative at their next meeting in Vancouver, Washington, on April 9 through 14.

“The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual,” said outgoing executive director Donald McIsaac. “In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild Coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the council’s policy calls for a low ‘de minimis’ catch in ocean fisheries.”

Other officials agreed.

“This will be a challenging year for salmon fisheries,” said Council Vice-chair Herb Pollard. “Several key stocks are less abundant than usual, due to environmental conditions like the California drought and El Niño, which have affected ocean abundance for some stocks. However, there are alternatives that provide opportunities for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing coast wide.”

Read the full story at The Press

Coastal salmon fishing shutdown being weighed by panel

March 17, 2016 — Olympia, Wash. — Regional fishery managers are considering the rare step of closing recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of Washington and northern Oregon this summer due to a low number of returning coho salmon.

Butch Smith, owner of Coho Charters in Ilwaco, Washington, said a no-fishing option would be devastating to coastal communities, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

“Fishing is our lifeblood,” he said. “Fishing is our Boeing and our Microsoft.”

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is eyeing the shutdown as one of three alternatives as it sets fishing seasons off the Pacific coast. Two other options released Monday would permit some salmon fishing.

The last time salmon fishing was closed in the waters was 1994. It was severely curtailed in 2008.

The current proposal would close recreational and commercial non-tribal ocean fishing for chinook and coho salmon north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita, Oregon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New Jersey Herald

Pacific Ocean salmon fishing shutdown an option for 2016 season

March 14, 2016 — Recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of Washington could be shut down this summer because of a low number of returning coho salmon. The closure is one of three options being considered by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets fishing seasons in ocean waters 3 to 200 miles off the Pacific coast.

The two other options, released early Monday would permit some salmon fishing this year.

Fishery biologists expect 380,000 Columbia River hatchery coho to return to the Washington coast this year, only about half of last year’s forecast. There were 242,000 coho that returned last year to the Columbia River, where some coho stocks are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Biologists are citing a lack of forage fish and warmer water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean “blob” and from El Nino as key factors in last year’s lower than expected return of coho.

It’s not what we want to see, since all the coastal fishing communities are dependent on tourism and our commercial fishers going out and catching salmon. Butch Smith, owner of CoHo Charters and Motel in Ilwaco

As for chinook, the forecast calls for a robust return of Columbia River fall chinook salmon this year. That includes about 223,000 lower river hatchery fish, which traditionally have been the backbone of the recreational ocean chinook fishery, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The last time the ocean salmon fishing season was closed was 1994. In 2008, fishing was severely curtailed.

“It’s not what we want to see, since all the coastal fishing communities are dependent on tourism and our commercial fishers going out and catching salmon. That’s our Microsoft and Boeing out here on the coast,” said Butch Smith, owner of CoHo Charters and Motel in Ilwaco. He also serves on a state advisory panel and was at the meeting in Sacramento where the ocean options were discussed.

Smith and Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for the Northwest Marine Trade Association, believe there are enough salmon to craft some sort of fishing season for 2016.

Read the full story at The News Tribune

Studies aim to restore habitat of imperiled Northwest fish

February 8, 2016 — BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Scientists in the Pacific Northwest are studying more than a dozen watersheds to develop templates on habitat restoration that could be used in similar streams to bolster struggling fish populations.

The federal government lists 28 populations of salmon and steelhead on the West Coast that need protections due to low numbers despite spending millions of dollars every year on restoration efforts.

 The studies aim to make those efforts more successful. They focus on 17 watersheds in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California and British Columbia and examine the benefit of everything from dam removal to building artificial beaver dams in tributaries.

Creating templates for habitat restoration could save time and money by using strategies known to produce good results in similar habitats in the region, said George Pess, a research fisheries biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The overall goal is to learn enough to be smart about our restoration,” he said, noting that the studies will offer recommendations to private, tribal and government entities but won’t produce any legally binding regulations.

 

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle